The computer scientist from Virginia didn’t realise there would be quite so much confusion when he took the Twitter name @JohnLewis, but since then he has become famous for his patient replies to people who mistake him from the department store.

But today, he’s been dealing with mistaken identify from a different quarter, with a more disturbing theme.

People have been sending him tweets thinking he is John Lewis the civil rights legend turned politician, who criticised Donald Trump this weekend.

Trump wrote a series of tweets in response, saying: ‘Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results.

‘All talk, talk, talk – no action or results. Sad!’

The comments sparked fury, including marches against the president by people saying John Lewis is a hero and should not have been attacked this way.

Criticising the congressman, incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said: ‘I think it’s incredibly disappointing and I think it’s irresponsible for people like himself to question the legitimacy of the next United States president.’

(He apparently forgot that Trump himself famously questioned Barack Obama’s legitimacy, doubting if he was born in America.)

The resulting controversy has meant that this weekend on the internet has not been fun for @JohnLewis.

He hasn’t even done his usual trick of redirecting the tweets, as the racism was too demoralising.